CHAPTER 278: DEVIOUS PLAN

"Yes! That’s the look I wanted to see! That’s how I felt all my life!" she shrieked and spun on one of her centipede legs and bowed with exaggerated theatrical flair, nearly slipping in a pool of congealed blood, only to catch herself with a grotesque flourish.

"Farewell, darlings~" she sang, dragging each syllable with sadistic glee. "I do hope you’ll enjoy getting acquainted... with true hunger."

At her command, a high-pitched whistle echoed through the chamber.

The monstrous spiders froze, stopping their rampage.

Then, with perfect obedience, they turned, skittering back to her as if they were trained hunting hounds. Their bodies began shrinking as they ran, grotesque cracking noises accompanying their regression. Towering war beasts became the size of large dogs, then small hounds.

One by one, they leapt, bounding up her back, climbing into the pulsating sacks hanging from her spine. The sacs quivered and stretched, devouring the creatures whole. In a sense, they were swollen wombs that welcomed their children back home.

Once the last spider-creature vanished within her, the sacs convulsed, sealing shut with a wet, meaty squelch.

Countess Veylin didn’t stay to savor the aftermath.

She reared back, opened her jaw far too wide, and fired a coil of black tendrils from deep within her throat. The cords latched onto one of the gothic columns towering overhead. She then launched herself upward, dragging her body as if it were being reeled in.

Her form disappeared into the gloom above.

Only silence remained after her departure.

A silence that wasn’t peace, but crippling pressure.

A silence that pressed down on Kaiden’s shoulders like a vice, heavier than any monster he’d fought so far.

He staggered forward as he pushed himself upright. His stomach felt hollow. In that single moment, it was completely emptied of sustenance. His body would soon begin running on fumes.

As if to validate that train of thought, his muscles trembled. His grip was weak. Vision slightly blurred. The Hungering Curse was no longer just a slow burn; they couldn’t counter it by merely stopping to eat more often than they would normally. It was a ticking bomb placed right onto their very souls.

This wasn’t just a boss battle anymore.

This was survival.

They had no food. No supplies. No way to replenish stamina the normal way. Even mana regeneration was slowing unnaturally, as if the curse had reached deeper than flesh and blood, into the soul.

The only thing keeping them standing was sheer force of will... and the knowledge that if they stopped moving now, they’d rot in this dungeon as shriveled corpses gnawed hollow by their own need.

Kaiden turned to the others.

Nyx was clutching her side where she’d been clipped during the charge, panting through gritted teeth.

Aria leaned against Luna, who had a hand on her shoulder.

Bastet stood tall, but the flickering gold in her eyes hinted at strain—a lioness pushed into a corner.

Jack was still kneeling, sweat drenching his hair, but he gave Kaiden a nod through clenched teeth.

Leon...

Leon didn’t even look up. He just kept breathing through bites, gnawing on nothing now, chewing air.

Vaelira stood silently, gaze locked on the empty ceiling above. Her lips were tightly shut, with anxiety rushing through her mind.

Kaiden’s jaw clenched at the sight. A single moment of carelessness, if it could even be titled as such, made a dungeon clear that was going quite well turn into pure desperation.

"We need to go."

No one argued.

But then a sudden shuffle of boots across blood-slick stone made every head snap toward its direction.

Diaz emerged from the shadows like a ghost.

He had two full backpacks slung over his shoulders.

Even Luna blinked in surprise. "Wait... is that...?"

"Food..." Aria whispered, not even daring to believe it for a brief second.

Kaiden, for once, was speechless as he observed the grim man walking slowly toward them.

"You managed to react in time?" he asked at long last.

Diaz gave a tight nod. "I saw it in her eyes. That look... she never planned to kill us directly. She is a coward who wants others to do her bidding. Instead of risking her life by fighting us, she chose a different method."

He dropped one pack at Kaiden’s feet with a thud and adjusted the other on his back. "So I grabbed what I could and ran. Took two bags from one of Vaelira’s summons and hid myself in the shadows before she let her little freaks loose. I was betting that her whimsical, pampered brain wouldn’t waste remembering someone who was already invisible to her attention."

Kaiden couldn’t help but see the man in a whole new light.

For all his stoicism, his usually unreadable face... something changed in the Paragon of Sin.

A small smile emerged on his face.

"I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad you’re part of the team. Awesome job."

"Heh..." A never-before-seen brief chuckle left the grim rogue’s mouth. "Valhalla’s Sinners and the A-tier kept hogging all the glory. I had to do something as the sole representative of Runewoven."

He ignored Vaelira’s scoff, which resulted from the difference in attitude with which he addressed her and Kaiden’s group. Diaz, however, ignored her as he added,

"I’m not a flashy combatant who can shine brilliantly, I just do what I can do."

Kaiden shook his head, for he didn’t agree with the underlying sentiment of Diaz’s statement. "Nonsense. As far as I’m concerned, what you’d just done was way cooler than a big finishing attack. What you did was give us a fighting chance."

"The bromance is building at a rapid pace... What a time to be alive," Luna murmured under her breath, but she wasn’t grumpy about it, nor was she making fun of either man. A genuine, happy smile emerged on her face as she opened the bag at Kaiden’s feet and gave all her friends and boyfriend a big portion to consume.

These supplies wouldn’t last them more than a few hours, perhaps even less if the curse bared its ugly fangs again, but it was the perfect morale boost after giving them the fright of a lifetime.

It was time to hunt down the elusive boss monster and get out of this dungeon at long last.